"Involving different communities in shaping multi-perspective narratives of history strengthens democratic processes, builds trust and contributes to long-term cohesion and conflict prevention," said OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Christophe Kamp at the Siena Symposium on Contested Histories on 2 October 2025.
Kamp was delivering the keynote address at the Siena Symposium on Contested Histories: Challenges and Opportunities in Building More Cohesive Societies, which was held at the University of Siena on 2 and 3 October.
The Symposium brought together practitioners, legal experts, policy-advisors, members of bilateral commissions, scholars and educators to exchange practical experience related to historical narratives in diverse societies. The participants discussed deliberations over public representations of history and shared their experiences in the field of education.
In his speech, Kamp set out a number of general principles underpinning policy- and decision-making in this area. He also discussed how historical events and people are remembered in public spaces through statues, street names, monuments and other symbols and how the education system, which teaches a particular version of history, has the potential to promote critical-thinking skills and multi-perspective approaches.
Over the past decade, successive High Commissioners have observed that disputes over the memorialization of historical narratives can contribute to tensions within diverse societies. To address this, the HCNM has been exploring how to help diverse societies manage contestations over historical narratives in a pragmatic way, building on over 30 years of accumulated institutional experience and the input of international experts in the field.
The Symposium was co-organized by the University of Siena, the HCNM, and the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation (IHJR)-EuroClio Project on Contested Histories.
